Nick Nurse Found a Bright Side After 76ers’ Loss vs. Timberwolves

The Philadelphia 76ers suffered a beatdown loss on Wednesday night on the road against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The matchup served as the second leg of a back-to-back set for the Sixers.

Heading into the matchup, the Sixers understood the circumstances would be far from ideal. Not only did they go toe-to-toe with the Cleveland Cavaliers one night prior, but that matchup needed overtime to settle the score. Also, the Sixers competed without their MVP big man, Joel Embiid, for the first time during the 2023-2024 NBA season.

A glance at the final results shows an undermanned visiting team failing to reach expectations. However, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse was able to look on the bright side despite the outcome.

“I thought we did a lot of good things tonight,” the head coach told reporters. “Obviously, the start was not one of them, but I thought we did do a lot of a lot of pretty good things.”

The starting sequence that Nurse referenced involved a lopsided showing through the first quarter of action. The Timberwolves outshot the Sixers 25-22, draining 60 percent of their attempts from the field. Minnesota was just three points shy of a 40-point showing.

Meanwhile, on the defensive end, the Timberwolves held the Sixers to under 37 percent from the field. From beyond the arc, the Sixers went 1-8. With just eight baskets and three free throws, along with seven turnovers, the Sixers trailed by 17 points heading into the second quarter.

It wasn’t easy for the Timberwolves to cruise to a blowout win, despite the way the first 12 minutes played out. The Sixers punched back with a 29-20 quarter and proved to Minnesota they wouldn’t roll over for a scheduled loss.

“Getting back in the game, remaining within some touch I thought we did a really good job of creating some good open looks, we got downhill, we got to the free throw line,” Nurse explained. “Most of those threes — not all of them — but most of them were ones I wouldn’t want us to turn them down.”

After an inspiring second-quarter showing, the Sixers were within striking distance to form a comeback. Unfortunately, the continued struggles from beyond the arc made it difficult to pull away from Minnesota’s attack on the other end.

“You’re gonna have to make a better percentage of those because you’re going to have to shoot over the top of them from distance,” Nurse explained. “That really stood out.”

Overall, the Sixers knocked down just seven of their 32 three-point attempts. Their lack of execution from deep played a part in their inability to win, but it didn’t leave Nurse discouraged.

“I thought we fought hard,” the head coach finished. “We were on the glass, felt like we were getting killed on the glass, but we had 17 offensive rebounds so we were fighting. It felt like they had 30 but they only had ten. It just felt like it. I think again, we put ourselves a little bit behind it with the start that we had.”

With a 112-99 defeat, the Sixers picked up their fifth loss of the year on Wednesday. They’ll get a couple of days off before they return to the court to face the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday.